Saturday, March 13, 2010

Bacino Orseolo - the "Scimier of Justice"

On privately owned gondolas, certain areas tend to carry signature information which can often tell us about the owner of a gondola. One such area is called a "scimier". This decorative piece mounts above the seat-back. It's not a necessary piece of equipment, but many gondolas have one. This scimier appears to have a gold-painted, carved representation of "Justice", holding scales while a lion looks on. The lion most likely represents Venice, while the "Justice" character is probably the justice of the Republic.Looking at the aft deck, we see carvings, indicating that she's a wedding gondola.This is a nice side-by-side photo with the tails of a standard gondola and a wedding gondola.The owner has added custom cushions and a matching cloth that hangs from the back of the seat. I've often called it a "cape", but drawings I've seen by Gilberto Penzo identify it as a "strasino".Whatever you call that piece, it looks great on the boat and creates the perfect place to stow things you need to get to during the cruise.As I mentioned earlier, the scimier can sometimes tell us about the gondolier. Maybe the guy who rows this boat is also a lawyer. There's got to be a joke in there somewhere.

About Me

Greg Mohr – Husband, dad, gondolier.
President of Gondola Adventures, Inc.
www.gondola.com
and president of the Gondola Society of America
(which basically means that I’m the most hopeless of all the gondola fanatics).

GONDOLAS IN AMERICA

For years I’ve said that“Most gondola operations are the best kept secret in their town”As president of the Gondola Society of America, one of my goals is to change that and help people find gondolas wherever they are.Here is a list of gondola operations in North America:The fine print -States are listed alphabetically, California operations are listed south-to-north.Not all of the listings below have Venice-built boats.Some operations are seasonal and may not have boats in the water during winter.If you know of an operation that’s not listed here, I’d like to hear about it.If you have a complaint about something on this list, count to ten, if you’re still angry – take a gondola cruise, because you probably need to relax.